“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” has become the punchline for many a joke since the television ads began to air in 1990. The original lady at the bottom of the stairs was Edith Fore, who died in August of 1997.
I don’t wear a device around my neck, and the ad still freaks me out. However, so many of my friends break bones from unexpected falls, so I installed a danger sign inside my head that reads: DON, YOU ARE NOT AS GRACEFUL AND AGILE AS YOU ONCE WERE. The small print under my sign reads: And you never were very graceful nor agile.
Today, I do fewer risky things. I use a cane when I hike up a mountain. I grab the handrail when I go downstairs. I don’t rollerblade, and I never did.